# French word "shampooing"; I'm confused **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 24, 2023, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598 "2023-03-24T16:43:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/1 "2023-03-24T16:43:56Z")
My knowledge of French is limited to what I read on packages, road signs, and the occasional useful tidbits like _bon mot_ or _hors d’oeuvre_. I’ve noticed that all the shampoo products I see have their French version of the word as “shampooing”. That’s the noun for what the product is. Which mystifies me. We know “shampoo” came to English from Hindi: > **[Shampoo | Etymology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shampoo#Etymology)** > > The word shampoo entered the English language from the Indian subcontinent during the colonial era. It dated to 1762 and was derived from the Hindi word cā̃pō (चाँपो, pronounced \[tʃãːpoː\]), itself derived from the Sanskrit root capati (चपति), which means 'to press, knead, or soothe'. I _think_ French has very few -ing words. In fact, as far as I personally know (which isn’t very far) this is the one and only -ing word. So a couple questions: 1. Are -ing words rare in French? Whether traditional French or recently imported words? 2. What the function of the -ing suffix? Make it sound better, verbify the noun, or what? Or is it not really a suffix? 3. Anything else anyone knows about this odd French word or other French -ing words. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/2 "2023-03-24T17:19:43Z")
The French word for “tuxedo” is “smoking.” ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/3 "2023-03-24T17:28:51Z")
All the -ing words I can think of in French are recent borrowings, almost exclusively from Germanic languages. The only native word that comes to mind is _coing_ (“quince”). As for the suffix, its presence is due to the fact that the word was borrowed from the English gerund, with the last vowel being nasalized, [ʃɑ̃pwɛ̃]. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/4 "2023-03-24T17:37:57Z")
_Poing_ = fist - is another. But examples aren’t exactly springing to mind. j ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/5 "2023-03-24T18:10:00Z")
Cool! That’s the same word Brazilians use in Portuguese for Tuxedo–“Smoking” They also use “Shopping” for what we call “Mall”, as in “I’m going to the ‘shopping’” A billboard is called “Outdoor” Though strange, I have always figured it’s just one language borrowing from another, without concern for exact application of the borrowed word. It hurts my mouth and brain to pronounce those English words with a Brazilian accent while speaking Portuguese, but it is what it is. I thought the French policed these kinds of linguistic intrusions vigorously. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/6 "2023-03-24T18:24:08Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > My knowledge of French is limited to what I read on packages, road signs, and the occasional useful tidbits like _bon mot_ or _hors d’oeuvre_. I can’t believe you missed this alternative wording: the occasional useful _bon mot_ like _hors d’oeuvre_. (Where’s the smiley wearing a beret when you need it?) To your question, I’ve always just assumed that “shampooing” is a borrowing from English. Since it’s a borrowing, the “-ing” doesn’t serve a French grammatical function, anymore than the _accent aigu_ has any grammatical function in the now-English words like _cliché_ and _touché_. In French the é shows that the word is a participle. Those words aren’t participles in English; the accent is kept to show the pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/7 "2023-03-24T18:53:30Z")
Also _seing_. Let’s face it: there is a handful of such words, but not as many as your shampooing, shopping, camping, etc. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > What the function of the -ing suffix It’s just Latin mangled over the centuries: e.g., “poing” from “pugnus”, “coing” from “cotoneum”, “parpaing” from “perpetaneus” or “perpedaneum” or something like that. In other words, it is not a specific suffix with a grammatical function. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/8 "2023-03-24T19:23:05Z")
Since I live two hours from Paris, I get to see entertainingly strange French versions of imported English on the regular. My favorite is on deli and snack restaurant signs and menus — the way they have chosen to render the plural of sandwich. [![](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0b/94/b4/3a/photo0jpg.jpg) ](https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0b/94/b4/3a/photo0jpg.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/9 "2023-03-24T19:27:55Z")
If they wanted it to look like authentic English, they should put an apostrophe in it ! ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/10 "2023-03-24T19:36:26Z")
What always irks me in France, and, let’s face it, in the U.S., are “pizzas”. But it could be argued this accurately reflects French, and English, pronunciation: “What do you call more than one pizza?” — “Pizzas.” Same for “sandwichs”. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/11 "2023-03-24T19:38:19Z")
What else could the plural of pizza be other than pizzas, in English or French ? ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/12 "2023-03-24T19:40:46Z")
Another common -ing word in French is ‘parking’ which means parking lot. At least in European French that is, I think in Quebec they use something like 'stationment". ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/13 "2023-03-24T19:42:11Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > _Poing_ = fist > > - is another. But examples aren’t exactly springing to mind. > [@DPRK](#): > > Also _seing_. And _parpaing_ (“cinder block”). But there’s only a handful of them. > [@minor7flat5](#): > > I thought the French policed these kinds of linguistic intrusions vigorously. The _Académie Française_ certainly tries to. Most people quietly ignore it in everyday life. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/14 "2023-03-24T19:47:24Z")
In early quotes they are more consistently called _pizze._ But apparently later on people got too familiar with them, and forgot they are Italian. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/15 "2023-03-24T20:06:03Z")
A few here [The French love affair with -ing](http://macmillandictionaries.com/MED-Magazine/July2003/09-french-english-false-friends.htm#6) _Le lifting_ = facelift _Un dancing_ = dance hall _Un camping_ = campsite _Un bowling_ = bowling alley _Un parking_ = car park/parking lot _Un living_ = living room _Un skating_ = skating rink _Le zapping_ = television channel-hopping _Le footing_ = jogging _Le smoking_ =smoking jacket ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/16 "2023-03-24T20:33:39Z")
Ladies and gentlemen I think we have a winner here. It amounts to borrowing the English participle verb form to be used as a French noun. But I learned a lot along the way too, so thanks to all. As to @Cervaise’s deli photo, of course they have to spell it “sandwichs & salades”. If they moved the “e” from “salades” and tucked it into “sandwichs” the audience would forget which country they were in. ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/17 "2023-03-24T21:30:35Z")
Many words in -ing are in fact borrowed from English (smoking, parking…) Those in -oing are from Latin or Greek roots. “shampoing” came from Hindi in the XVIII" century, and is pronounced as the “poing” and not as “going” ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/18 "2023-03-24T21:48:33Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > If they wanted it to look like authentic English, they should put an apostrophe in it ! Misplaced apostrophes. [![](https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/apostrophe.jpg?x91208) ](https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/apostrophe.jpg?x91208) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/19 "2023-03-24T21:56:01Z")
Yeah, i mean, that’s typical in any language that adopts a foreign word, though, at least from my observation. Why would you keep the mother tongue plural? You adapt it to the rules of your own language. (Though classical languages like Latin and Greek seem to get a pass, at least in English, but those I generally use the -s plural for because, frankly, I think it’s silly to preserve those plurals. We’re speaking English, not Latin or Greek.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598/20 "2023-03-24T22:36:59Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Misplaced apostrophes. Your cartoon cite reminds me of this gem. > **[Kerning](https://xkcd.com/1015/)** > > I have never been as self-conscious about my handwriting as when I was inking in the caption for this comic. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-word-shampooing-im-confused/981598.md?page=2)